


you are my angel

by hhhyuckies



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Inspired by Titanic (1997), Lee Donghyuck | Haechan & Mark Lee Are Best Friends, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan is Whipped, Lee Jeno is Whipped, M/M, Mentioned Na Jaemin, Minor Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Original Female Character, RMS Titanic, Secret Relationship, nohyuck in love n its cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:34:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29532777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hhhyuckies/pseuds/hhhyuckies
Summary: in new york, all your dreams can come true. jeno and donghyuck hope this is true; they hope to get away from the confinement that is their difference in class. hence why they board the glamorous ship that is the titanic.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Lee Jeno
Comments: 2
Kudos: 30
Collections: Challenge #5 — I heard a secret..





	you are my angel

**Author's Note:**

> hi! a big big thank you to my beta for giving me motivation throughout the writing process of this and helping me with plot points. i really appreciate it. hope you enjoy reading this as much as i enjoyed writing it.

wide eyes gaze up from the dock at the majestic ship in awe. no one could believe their eyes and their luck; lower class and upper class passengers share a similar admiration for the journey they would both be setting upon despite their different goals. one of the upper class passengers most excited is lee donghyuck. 

part of the lee family, who migrated many years ago from korea to the south of england, he reeks of wealth, glory, and power. being the youngest and most stubborn child, he can have anything that he wants. he has everything that he wants: his perfect choice of clothing, his choice of food to suit his picky but broad appetite, the biggest room in their house that they have long left behind. but in his eyes, none of these can overtake the space in his heart to what (rather, who) he treasured the most: lee jeno, his love.

they had met near a beach in poole one day, when donghyuck and his brother minhyung begged their parents to let them venture out to somewhere beyond the constraints of their estate. donghyuck had been standing in the queue for a dessert from the makeshift stall near where him and his brother were sitting; instead of joining him, minhyung was having an in-depth conversation with some man who had introduced himself as ‘na jaemin,’ but whispered quite loudly to minhyung that he could call him ‘nana’. after seeing how enticed his older brother seemed by the male’s presence, donghyuck decided he no longer wanted to witness the shameless flirting occurring so openly, and instead decided to get himself an iced treat. 

he wasn’t sure of what to get; after all, so many beautiful things were presented to him: a banana split, an array of sorbet flavours, the simple vanilla ice cream in a cone. he was spoiled for choice. after much deliberation, he finally decided on a watermelon sorbet for his brother and a banana split for himself. fiddling with the spoons and balancing the two cups between his hand and his chest, he turned but found himself met with a man taller than him by quite a bit. he yelped out, eyes wide as the cold ice of the sorbet landed on both his torso and the taller’s.

“oh my. my apologies. i wasn’t looking where i was going and-” cut off by donghyuck’s chuckle, the male tilted his head, waiting for some sort of snarky reply or comment that would offend him but he heard nothing like that. the shorter just smiled up at him, used his hand to brush off the remainder of the sorbet that hadn’t slid off of his chest and did the same to the taller before saying, “don’t apologise. everything happens for a reason.”

donghyuck’s eyes lingered on the other, noticing how his gaze flickered from his face to the wet sand underneath their bare feet. “hey, why are you looking away? i’m trying to speak to you here.” another chuckle came from his lips. they stayed this way for quite some time until the man, who donghyuck found out to be ‘lee jeno’, suggested that they find somewhere to sit. and they did so, after donghyuck gave the remainder of the liquid watermelon sorbet to his brother. 

they sat under the sun for the remainder of their time on the beach, talking about everything and nothing, exchanging addresses to write letters to each other and splashing each other in the sea, using how sticky the sorbet had made them both as an excuse. and when it came to minhyung telling donghyuck that it was time for them to head home, it was like parting a child from their best friend. a pout had formed on his lips and a glare was sent minhyung’s way but nonetheless, he said goodbye to jeno, planting a gentle kiss on his cheek.

that was eight months ago.

after countless letters back and forth and many promises made to see each other once again formed, donghyuck and jeno met once again, at the berth 44 dock in southampton in front of the glamorous and huge ship they would soon be boarding: the _titanic_. 

instead of donghyuck excitedly gripping jeno’s hand, he is instead loosely holding the hand of a woman called ‘alice’, who his parents had found appropriate for him to marry. nevertheless, his heart still races at the exhilarating thought of once again seeing jeno and fulfilling what they had planned through the countless letters sent back and forth.

they would leave both of their families behind and elope to new york; whilst donghyuck’s family head to new york in the hopes for relaxing in a foreign country uncommon to their eyes, jeno’s family long to start a new life, better than the one they had in poole. being in england offered too many hardships, jeno had written to donghyuck in a letter, thus, their family had decided to move away. after receiving this letter, the latter begged his family to let them go on the luxury ship. (and why would they deny this way to show off their increasing amount of wealth?)

donghyuck feels an arm wrapping around his shoulder and his hand immediately rips away from alice’s, using the fact that his brother had pulled him into a headlock to leave her presence. minhyung continuously pokes the younger’s side before laughing into his ear. 

“donghyuck-ah, are you excited? you got your way once again, of c-” 

he is cut off by the younger male pushing him gently into someone who is standing behind them, but he still decides to tease him. amidst the fit of giggles and glares he sends to his brother, donghyuck manages to utter an apology but widens his eyes when he hears that familiar voice he so longed to hear, “don’t apologise. a smart man told me once that everything happens for a reason.”

the smile that beams across donghyuck’s face when he sees him outshines the sun, jeno thinks to himself as he simply places his hand on the other’s shoulder, longing to embrace him in a hug and feels his lips against his. but he holds out and instead greets him as he would an old friend. “donghyuck-ah, hello.”

“jen, hello.” 

there is silence between the pair that masks out the endless chatter and hubbub from the other passengers around them, but nothing can tear their focus away from each other until donghyuck’s mother calls his name. and once again, that parting feeling overtakes them—yet what else can they do besides leave each other once again? donghyuck doesn’t want to leave him; he nods to jeno, his lips curling up to form a smile before he turns away, heading to his mother with minhyung.

soon, they head onto the ship, going to their assigned suites: donghyuck’s mother and father together and minhyung, donghyuck and alice in a suite together. the suites consist of two large bedrooms, two wardrobe rooms and a bathroom. 

they enter the room and only briefly glance at each other before the woman declares she is ‘going to the deck to admire the beautiful view’. he nods and lets her leave. she doesn’t come back for hours, even after they see each other at dinner.

he doesn’t care, though. jeno consumes every waking thought he has and he would never dare to complain because the thought of him is enough to make him forget all of the stress his family brings him. 

why won’t the clock quicken, donghyuck questions as he stares at the clock in anticipation. his fiance lays on the bed, staring at his back. she has already made it perfectly clear to him earlier in the day that she is no longer interested in him; he entered the room to see a man’s lips attached to her neck. but he only put up the facade of being enraged for the time between him catching them and the man leaving.

and he does. 

as soon as the clock strikes nine, he stands and leaves, rushing to the staircase and walking down. his lip gets caught between his teeth, his heart beating against his chest. his eyes stay fixed to the ground with every turn he takes, getting closer to the third class smoke room. when he gets there, he sees the wide grin on jeno’s face and his arms reach forward in desperation to pull him into a tight hug. 

“jen, i missed you. i missed you so much.” 

he takes in a long breath, noting the strong scent of tobacco that blends with a soft hint of vanilla. jeno’s arms snake around his torso, and they stay like that for some time before the taller male cups his face and looks down at him. 

“i missed you too, angel. come, let’s go inside. i told my friend about you.” 

their fingers intertwine and a grin plasters itself on donghyuck’s face; they make their way into the third class smoke room. donghyuck notes to himself that this place is completely different to the first class smoke room that he had only glanced into for a moment. 

-

between the day of the voyage and their final day on the ship, every night donghyuck spends there is with jeno. every opportunity they find, they use it to sneak off and stay as close to each other as possible, making plans for what they would do when they got to new york. instead of donghyuck heading back to the suite and laying next to his ‘fiancé’, he heads back to the suite with jeno, hand in hand, and sleeps beside him. alice barely comes back, knowing the situation with donghyuck and jeno, being in a similar predicament herself. 

donghyuck and jeno wake up to minhyung rushing into the room to wake the pair up; hyuck’s leg is draped over the taller’s and his head is buried in his neck.

“oi. hyuck, jeno. jeno, you need to go. it’s our mother.”

half asleep, donghyuck hasn’t processed what situation he would soon be in, whining out that his brother should leave instead and pushing his head further into jeno’s neck. but when he hears the familiar, screeching voice of his mother, paired with alice’s pleading, he wakes up properly. he can faintly hear his fiancé begging for his mother to ‘just leave’ and that ‘nothing happened’.

“donghyuck, were you aware that this woman was cheating o—lee donghyuck! what is the meaning of this?”

he jolts away from jeno, sitting up with wide eyes. he sees alice clinging onto the man he had caught her making out with that one evening, his mother with rage blazing in her eyes and minhyung, who just stares at donghyuck with pity and fear in his eyes for how their mother would react. 

he then turns to jeno, who is looking at him with care and concern in his gaze. he feels the other take his hand in his own and nods to him, as if he gives him permission to tell his mother.

“mother. alice and i, as nice as she is, don't love each other. in fact, we never have. she is clearly in love with... him, and me, i love jeno.” he lifts up their connected hands and smiles at jeno. but in reality, his heart is racing. he feels as if it is about to fly out of his chest. then his and jeno’s eyes connect and it relaxes him.

well, until his mother speaks once again.

“no. no, i do not condone this! lee donghyuck, you will not be with this man.”

“mother, i already _am_ with him.”

she chokes on her words and widens her eyes, her chest heaving in obvious anger. instead of taking it out on her son, she storms out of the room, alice and the man following behind them. minhyung stays, shaking his head at his younger brother. 

“you’re so unbelievable. i can’t- i’m going to the boat deck to calm mother down.” 

when minhyung leaves, donghyuck turns to jeno before pulling him back down onto the bed and presses a gentle kiss on his lips. 

“sleep, jen. let’s sleep.”

they spend their entire day in the suite, talking, touching and staying as close to each other as possible, since both alice and minhyung seemed as if they would not return soon. and once again, they take a small nap when the clock strikes nine, hoping to wake up at midnight and admire the night sky. 

after what seems like only a moment of sleep to the pair, they both wake up due to the ship aggressively jolting. donghyuck is the first to get up, yawning and sitting up before waking jeno; he leans down to press his lips against the other’s until jeno’s eyes open. he shrieks, his hands reaching to hit him.

“jen, don’t scare me like that.”

the taller laughs at how red donghyuck gets, but still rewards him with the feeling of his lips against his. before they get too carried away (by the shorter moving to straddle jeno), donghyuck remembers why he woke up so abruptly. 

“oh, i felt the ship shake a little. i wonder what happened.” 

his words are quiet, broken up by frequent gasps due to jeno’s lips being attached to his neck. he giggles quietly, his hand carding through the other’s hair, “jen, we should see what happened, right?” he feels him shake his head against his neck and is pulled down on top of jeno.

until a knock at the door of the stateroom interrupts them and the sound of a gruff voice comes through the door, alerting them that they need to ‘head to the boat deck and come and put their life jackets on’. donghyuck’s head peeks out from under the duvet and he hums a little, getting up after kissing jeno’s cheek gently. he runs to the door. minhyung beats him there, forcing the jacket into his arms and heads to the younger’s suite.

“iceberg. the ship has been struck so we need to go.”

the expression on donghyuck’s face contorts. he shakes his head in disbelief. “no, no. that can’t be. this ship is the _unsinkable_ one. that’s why i chose it for us. we could’ve been on one of the sister s-” he is cut off by minhyung dragging both jeno and donghyuck by their arms out of the door.

soon they reach the deck and what they see resembles something similar to a movie. it doesn’t seem real. his hand held tightly in jeno’s, donghyuck’s legs feel numb and heavy as he follows his brother and his love to where the lifeboats were. he can faintly hear minhyung asking for them to be put on the lifeboat but turned away after being told that it was ‘women and children, then men.’

his heartbeat is the only thing he can hear, his grip on jeno’s hand tightening. he is pulled to the bow of the ship and ultimately, pulled out of his thoughts. 

“angel, we need to find a way to get you on the boats.”

“but what about you? i’m not leaving you.”

“ _you_ have so much potential, baby. you can become an actor like you wan-”

“i’m _not_ leaving you, jen.”

he stares up at jeno in confusion. did he not understand why they were even on this ship in the first place? this supposedly _unsinkable_ ship. they simply look at each other, as if they’re pleading to the other to just listen to them. jeno turns his head back to see if he could find some way for donghyuck to slip onto a lifeboat before shaking his head.

“ _baby_ ,” his voice falters, “you have to.”

donghyuck’s hands reach up to cup jeno’s face, “i suggested this voyage so we could be together. so we could be happy together. if i leave you, i won’t be happy because i won’t have you.” jeno covers donghyuck’s hands on his cheeks and nods, understanding him.

“i love you, my angel.”

“i love you too, jeno.”

they make their way to the stateroom, not without having to squeeze through the crowds of passengers rushing to the lifeboats. donghyuck pauses in his steps, seeing his brother running out of the room once again. he lets go of jeno’s hand and hugs minhyung tightly, telling him his decision; ignoring the older’s pleads, he just stays in his arms, mumbling, “thank you, hyung. i love you. tell mother that i’ll miss her.”

and with that, he pulls away from minhyung, telling him to leave. 

his hand goes back into jeno’s and he tugs him into the room, seeing all of the ornaments over the floor. shattered glass coats the mahogany wood but they step over the shards, going to lay on the bed.

his hands reach for the duvet, pulling it over them both. with their bodies pressed together and their life jackets long discarded, donghyuck and jeno rest their hands on each other, donghyuck’s palm on jeno’s face and jeno’s on his arm. his hand runs up his arm, to his neck, circling the faint bruises there before finally thumbing over his cheek, wiping away the tears that relentlessly fall.

“they’re playing music, my love. let’s sleep to the beautiful tune they’re playing.”

they whisper sweet nothings to each other before shutting their eyes and falling into a deep slumber to the sound of ‘nearer, my god, to thee’.


End file.
